Wednesday, December 14

Samsung Galaxy Y running on Android OS v2.3 aka Gingerbread can be titled as the one of the most affordable Android Smartphone in the market, by one of the leading handset manufacturer in the market - Samsung. Being the cheapest member of Samsung Galaxy Android Series is loaded with latest features too and has capability to compete with some mid range Android Smartphone too.

After using it for few day, I could not resist myself sharing my experience with the newly added member Samsung Galaxy Y. Basically meant for young generation, and that's what Y means here.Let's explore Samsung Galaxy Y -

Design – A simple candy bar, normally sized, measuring 104 x 58 x 11.5 mm weighing 97.5 g is a decent Android Smartphone with a 3 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display along with one hard brushed button in the middle, where the two touch button to each side, at the bottom. Where the top front display comprises the Samsung logo, ear-piece and don't get confused with two sensors as a video calling camera. Power button to it's right and a volume button to the other. Bottom houses the mouth-piece, where the top is contained by 3.5mm headset jack and the micro USB 2.0 port. Unfortunately microSD card slot is located beneath the battery. The all plastic body is quite well packed and durable too. Beneath lies the 2 MP camera with no flash along with a loud speaker. Nothing more to say about the design, but to me design is perfect.

Camera – Don't expect a decent camera at this price range, the camera is only 2 MP(1600x1200 pixels), on top the low screen resolution add to it's woes. The camera is a fixed focus too, though laden with great in-built features like Smile shot, Panorama shot, Geo-tagging. But if you are looking for a camera as a key feature in your phone, then this is not your cup of tea. In my opinion, camera might have survived but it's the screen resolution which is accounting for the bad rating. Talking about video recording, Samsung Galaxy Y is capable of recording videos at QVGA@15fps.

Processor – It's the 832MHz processor which makes it a good buy at this price range as it scores over some other mid-ranged Android Smartphone too. Quite faster processing power, great phone for web browsing especially on the Android OS v2.3.5 and a better performance at multi-tasking too. Switching between applications and gaming is all fine. Though, great performance by the processor, but if and only if you can manage that all on a small 3 inch display. But still a great add-on at this decent price tag.

Connectivity – Another plus point according to me, a full fledged device in terms of connectivity features. GPRS, EDGE, 3G at HSDPA, with download rates of up to 7.2 Mbps. Wi-Fi which can be used as a Wi-Fi hot-spot too. Along with the latest version of Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, HS and a microUSB v2.0. And a standard 3.5mm audio headset jack to house up every standard headphones of your choice. 5 out of 5 in terms of connectivity features at this price tag.

Memory – 160 MB internal storage, 290 MB user available RAM is enough to carry on your tasks with a seamless flow. To carry over your personal files, media content 2 GB micro SD card is included in the package which can be further expanded to 32 GB.

Audio/Video Quality – The audio quality of the device is up to the mark considering the price range, much better than it's competitors in the same family. A better pair of headphones will beautify your music listening experience. Coming to the video quality, the video player itself is a pretty basic with a progress bar along with play/pause button and forward/rewind buttons, smartphone manage well enough to play 3GP and MP4 videos. In fact, it only supports 3GP and MP4 video playback. Good audio quality but video quality is another let down due to low screen resolution.

Power House – 1200mAh Li-ion standard battery is what you got to power it up, enough power to carry on the device to a day or two with the normal usage. Battery provides Stand-by time up to up to 850 h on 2G and 540 h on 3G. Talk-time obviously a bit lower than that, the specification says up to 17 h on 2G and up to 6 h 20 min on 3G. Pretty good battery backup to keep it going for a day or two.

What's In The Box(Package) -

Samsung Galaxy Y handset

Li-ion battery 1200mAh

User manual along with a Cd(Kies software)

Charger

microUSB cable

2 GB micro SD memory card

Screen Protector

Headset with microphone

Pros -

Android OS v2.3.5 Gingerbread.

832 MHz Powerful Processor.

Affordable Android Smartphone.

Good Connectivity Features.

Good Audio Quality.

Good Battery Backup.

Cons -

Low Screen Resolution.

Bad Camera Quality.

Lacks Secondary Camera.

Fix Focus.

No Flash Support.

Verdict – Considering the price tag, a good competitor to Samsung Galaxy Pop, Samsung Galaxy Fit and other Micro-Max or Dell based cheap Android Smartphone within the similar price range. Rather than going for them, I would recommend you to choose Samsung Galaxy Y S5360. A good device for the one who wants to enjoy a bite of Android Operating System, ahem, Android OS v2.3.5 aka Gingerbread. A good and branded device for the general audience. Not meant for a hardcore Android fans. If the basic camera and a bit of low screen resolution does not bother you, then this is the Smartphone especially made for you.